INTELLIGENCE IN CHINA ($62o&
I
RICHARD LYNN zJY']8ah
University of Ulster, Northern Ireland UW6VHA>
Studies of the intelligence of' Oriental peoples in Japan, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore BqB|Fo
and the United States have typically reported slightly higher mean IQs than those of >
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British and American Caucasoids. Recently results have become available for a
&tj0M.-
standardization of Raven's Standard Progressive Matrices in the People's Republic of \lEkfcc
China. The results show that Chinese 6-15 year-olds obtain a mean IQ of 102.1 in relation &RW`W)0;
to an American Caucasoid standard of I00. ,hWcytzEw
A number of studies have shown that the Oriental or Mongoloid peoples =We2^W-{
have higher mean IQs than whites or Caucasoids of European origin in the ZVL
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United States and Britain. Much of the literature on this question is reviewed RBE7485
in Lynn (1987). The IQ advantage of Mongoloid populations has generally 2Lfah?Tx~C
been found to lie between 2 to 8 IQ points. A number of studies of g*y/j]
intelligence in Japan indicate that the mean IQ is approximately 105. Studies J4>;[\%m
of the intelligence of children in Taiwan and Singapore have obtained mean 99u/fk L
IQs of approximately 103. A recent study of children in Hong Kong obtained "Zcu[2,
a mean IQ of 110 (Lynn, Pagliari & Chan, 1988). The extensive literature d2~l4IL)~
on the intelligence of ethnic Orientals in the United States was reviewed by $mpO?D J~
Vernon (1982) who concluded that the mean non-verbal IQ was about 110 3+(z_!Qh
and the verbal IQ about 97, which can be averaged to give a figure of 103.5. ARF\fF|<2
Although data are now available on the intelligence levels of Mongoloids <7'&1=%r
in a variety of locations, the jewel in the crown is missing. This is the Z5B/|{
intelligence of the population in the People's Republic of China. The interest mj2Pk,,SA
in obtaining data on intelligence in China is twofold. Firstly, this is the <bUXC@3W
homeland of by far the greatest number of Mongoloids. Secondly, the high 51 4Z<omrK
intelligence levels of Mongoloids in several locations could have been 8KMvAc
determined by selective emigration from China. This is suggested by Flynn @h}`DNaZ^
(1989) for the Chinese in the United States, and the same argument could be }G'XkoI&
applied to the Chinese populations of Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore. ubbnFE
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Data on the intelligence level of the population of mainland China are crucial sn"fK=,#g
for the resolution of this problem. The required data have recently become :Fe_,[FR
available and are the subject of this report. O~PChUU*Y
METHOD {x{H$ f
A Chinese standardization of the Progressive Matrices was carried out by Yw)Fbt^
Hou Can Zhang of Beijing Normal University in the mid-nineteen eighties. &94W-zh
The standardization sample consisted of 5,108 individuals drawn as a =7
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stratified sample from the 6 principal administrative areas of China and from &RO7{,`
small, medium sized and large towns within these areas. The results are given R0wf#%97
in the form of norm tables in Raven and Court (1989). These norm tables V_"f|[1
consist of raw scores for a number of age groups and the percentile I]R9HGJNlJ
equivalents of raw scores, set out in the same format as those given for the {DwIjy31T
United States in Raven (1986) and for Britain in Raven (1981). dZ]Rqr
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RESULTS TSjIz5
The American norm tables give the most precise percentile equivalents for =45W\
raw scores and for this reason are the most satisfactory standard with which |4mVT&63(
to compare results from China and elsewhere. For the Chinese data it is qTM%G-
possible to derive American percentile equivalents for 20 age groups over the q]FBl}nwl%
age range 6-15 years. These have been collapsed into 5 age groups, the TH4\HY9qa?
percentiles transformed into IQs and the Chinese results given in relation to fF;h V
American IQ means of 100 and SDs of 15 in Table 1. Mean IQs of British =6\LIbO
children are also given in the Table, making the same calculations from the 68e[:wf
British standardisation sample. eT[&L @l]b
TABLE 1: MEAN SCORES AND IQs OF AMERICAN, BRITISH UpfZi9v?W
AND CHINESE CHILDREN ON RAVEN'S STANDARD F*` t"7Lm
PROGRESSIVE MATRICES. f
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It will be seen that the Chinese children obtain consistently higher means x[X`a
than the American and a marginally higher overall mean than the British. ? ?[g}>
The mean IQ of American children is depressed by the presence of 0V`[Zgf
substantial numbers of blacks in the population. The mean IQ of white `PlOwj@u0`
Americans is 102.2 (Jensen and Reynolds, 1982). Hence in relation to an 3^wC<ZXcD
American Caucasoid mean IQ of 100, British children obtain a mean of 101.2 ,j178EX
and Chinese children of 102.1. The statistical significance of the higher mean ER^QV(IvP8
obtained by the Chinese children in relation to the American can be tested by {C")#m-0
calculating the standard errors. The difference between the means is greater #U ASH&
than twice the standard errors and can therefore be considered statistically n]y EdL/1
significant. The Chinese-British difference is not statistically significant. E\M-k\cSj
DISCUSSION VagT_D
The results show that the intelligence level of children and adolescents in $1Z6\G O
mainland China is slightly higher than that of Caucasoids in the United States @i LIU}+
and in Britain, although the Chinese-British difference is not statistically A@$kLex
significant. In evaluating the result, account needs to be taken of the very low cyQBqG
living standards in China. rs]I
Few dispute that intelligence is to some degree determined by envi- #xT!E:W'
ronmental conditions and standards of living. Thus children adopted by Ew$I\j*
middle-class families enjoying good living conditions obtain higher IQs than u =J&~
their siblings reared in working-class families (Dumaret, 1985; Capron & -RMi8{
Duyme, 1989). Furthermore, the increase in living standards in the vzX
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economically developed western nations over the course of the last half VkZ.6kV
century has been accompanied by a rise in intelligence of approximately 15 Ck'aHe22'
IQ points (Flynn, 1987; Lynn & Hampson, 1986). A major factor in this %8r/oS
rise has probably been that the increase in living standards has been (D7$$!}
accompanied by better nutrition and this, in turn, has led to improvements in vFQ,5n;fF
the neurological development of the brain (Lynn, 1990). pe.QiMW{8
In the mid-nineteen eighties the per capita income in China was 227 US <f>akT,W
dollars as compared with 16,636 US dollars in the United States and 8,064 >jT
p6tu,
US dollars in Britain (United Nations, 1987). To equate the United States and tR)H~l7q
Britain with China for the standard of living it would be necessary to go back E[g*O5
at least to the beginning of the century when British and American mean IQs zT#`qCbT'J
were substantially lower than they are today. Hence, if and when living +Xy*?5E;C
standards in China improve, the intelligence of the population can be 38IMxd9v
expected to increase further. 0*F}o)n/m